Emily Roebling: Brooklyn Bridge Site Engineer and First Person To Cross
Then, the longest suspension bridge and 8th Wonder of the World
Emily Roebling took the first carriage to cross the finished Brooklyn Bridge. The rooster beside her was for luck. Maybe he crowed, as she undoubtedly wanted to crow. Maybe her luck depended on his being a rooster, not a hen.
As she wrote to her son, “I have more brains, common sense and know-how generally than have any two engineers, civil or uncivil, and but for me the Brooklyn Bridge would never have had the name Roebling in any way connected with it!”
Emily Roebling is remembered in history
Ken Burns told the story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge in one of his first documentaries on the Public Broadcasting System, and David McCullough told the fascinating story in his book The Great Bridge. More recently, a street in Brooklyn was renamed for her.
In renaming a street in Brooklyn for Emily Roebling, the city council member touted. “It’s thanks to Emily Warren Roebling that the Brooklyn Bridge is what it is today,” (Stephen) Levin… As he told the crowd, “The legacy of Emily Roebling endures as an example of perseverance, aspiration, and dedication to fighting for equality.” It seems…
